To All the ‘Mothers’

This Mother’s Day I’m taking the opportunity to reflect on someone who wouldn’t technically count as a mother but definitely played that role without any regard. That mother was my father.

I was 9 years old when my mother passed away. It was at this time when my father stepped in and became both my parents. What didn’t occur to me was the pain and loss he was going though. As a child you feel like your loss is greater and it’s hard for a kid to be empathize with how loss also affects “Daddy”. This man lost his best friend, wife and life partner. Then he performed this juggling act without showing us his underbelly of pain and all the things that go with a tragic loss.

I recently took a self improvement course and was asked to recall some early in my life that could have aided in my personality traits. Looking back at this great loss at a young age, I figured this was the beginning of when I learned to stand strong in the midst of anxiety by watching my father. “Work with what you got!”, are the words that have resonated with me. Despite your weaknesses, despite your circumstances and in the face of adversity, “work with what you got!”.

This gentleman also made sure that the countless resources he had we’re also exhausted. This included my 2 amazing sisters, many women in the church, school, neighborhood and in my family that stepped up to help make me into the gentleman that I am today. Thank you all!

To my dad and the countless “Superwomen” in my life I want to say happy Mother’s Day.